Learn how to ask to borrow something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 24 - Did You Leave Your Wallet At Home in the Czech Republic? Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how you can ask to borrow something. This conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Martin: It's between Irena and Martin. |
| Michael: The speakers know each other, so they’ll be using informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Martin: Aa! |
| Irena: Co je? Co se děje? |
| Martin: Nepřinesl jsem si kreditku. Můžu si od tebe půjčit peníze? |
| Irena: Jasně. Tady máš. Pak mi to dáš. |
| Martin: Díky moc! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Martin: Aa! |
| Irena: Co je? Co se děje? |
| Martin:Nepřinesl jsem si kreditku. Můžu si od tebe půjčit peníze? |
| Irena: Jasně. Tady máš. Pak mi to dáš. |
| Martin: Díky moc! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Martin: Ah! |
| Irena: Why? What's wrong? |
| Martin: I didn't bring my credit card. Can I borrow some cash from you? |
| Irena: Sure. Here it is. Just pay me back later. |
| Martin: Thank you so much! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, what are some common payment methods in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: It’s now the norm to be able to pay with a debit or credit card at most places in the Czech Republic, especially department stores and restaurants. The exceptions are markets or very small shops, or shops in villages. |
| Michael: So it’s always good to have some cash on hand. |
| Martin: Of course. Cash is usually needed for bus rides and post offices. Very often cash is also needed for purchasing items over the Internet. |
| Michael: Meaning that you have to pay cash on delivery. |
| Martin: Right, because some companies won’t let you pay for their products online with a credit or debit card. Other payment options include bank transfer or internet banking. |
| Michael: Could you give us a sentence that might come in handy when paying? |
| Martin: Sure thing. For example, you may want to ask Dá se tu platit kreditní kartou? |
| Michael: Which means "Is it possible to pay with a credit card?" Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: nepřinést [natural native speed] |
| Michael: not to bring |
| Martin: nepřinést[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nepřinést [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: kreditka [natural native speed] |
| Michael: credit card |
| Martin: kreditka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: kreditka [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: moct [natural native speed] |
| Michael: can, to be able to |
| Martin: moct[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: moct [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: ty [natural native speed] |
| Michael: you (informal) |
| Martin: ty[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: ty [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: půjčit si [natural native speed] |
| Michael: borrow, lend, rent, hire, take out a loan |
| Martin: půjčit si[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: půjčit si [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: peníze [natural native speed] |
| Michael: money, cash |
| Martin: peníze[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: peníze [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: později [natural native speed] |
| Michael: later, at a later time |
| Martin: později[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: později [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: dít se |
| Michael: Which means "to happen, to be going on,” or “to occur." This is an imperfective verb. It’s also irregular and reflexive. Can you give us some examples using this verb? |
| Martin: Sure, for example you can say, co se děje? |
| Michael: “What's going on?” |
| Martin: or also Co se děje ve světě? |
| Michael: ..which means "What's happening in the world?" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: dát |
| Michael: meaning "to give, to hand over, to deliver, to put,” or “to insert.” |
| Martin: This is a perfective verb. Please be sure not to confuse it with dát si, which means "to have or to take" food or drink in a restaurant or similar situation. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using the verb meaning “to give”? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Dát přednost chodcům. |
| Michael: .. which literally means "Give way to pedestrians." |
| Martin: or you can also say dám ti vědět |
| Michael: meaning “I will let you know.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to borrow or lend something in Czech. |
| Martin: The first important thing to know is that, unlike in English, where “to borrow'' and ''to lend'' are distinct, in Czech the word půjčit works for both sides. |
| Michael: Can you repeat it? |
| Martin: [slowly] půjčit. One can půjčit something to somebody, but also půjčit si something from somebody. Please note that půjčit si always comes with the reflexive si, meaning "to oneself." |
| Michael: Can you give us an example where the difference in meaning is clear? |
| Martin: Sure, for example you can say Půjčím si tvoje pero. |
| Michael: Which means “I’ll borrow your pen.” |
| Martin: With the meaning of “to lend”, you can say Půjčíš mi tvoje pero? |
| Michael: “Will you lend me your pen?” |
| Martin: I would like to make a note about the pronunciation of the word půjčit in spoken Czech. The letter “j” is not pronounced and the long ů is shortened into u, so it becomes pučit. |
| Michael: So keep that in mind, listeners. Now let’s see how to ask to borrow something. |
| Martin: The English ‘’can’’ or ‘’could’’ in Czech is expressed through the modal verb moct, which needs to be conjugated according to personal pronouns. In the first person singular it is já mohu, but in the spoken version it’s můžu, |
| Michael: meaning “I can”, so when borrowing something you should say... |
| Martin: můžu si půjčit… and add the name of the thing you want to borrow. For example, Můžu si půjčit tvůj deštník? |
| Michael: “Can I borrow your umbrella?” And if the subject is different? |
| Martin: You just have to change the conjugated form of the verb, moct. For example, Můžem si půjčit auto? |
| Michael: “Can we borrow a car?” |
| Martin: If you’re in a formal situation, such as a rental place, you could say Je možné si půjčit kolo? |
| Michael: “Is it possible to borrow a bicycle?” Now let’s see what changes when you want to ask if someone can lend you something. |
| Martin: You can start by saying můžeš mi půjčit…? or můžete mi půjčit…? if you are in a formal situation. |
| Michael: Please give us an example. |
| Martin: Můžeš mi půjčit drobné? |
| Michael: “Can you lend me some small change?” |
| Martin: If the thing you want to borrow is someone else’s property, you may want to know that “your” in Czech is tvůj for masculine words, tvoje or tvá for feminine words, and tvoje for neuter words. |
| Michael: Okay. How would you say “your umbrella”? |
| Martin: That’s tvůj deštník. In Czech there is also another possessive, which is svůj, |
| Michael: and it means “one’s own,” so it refers to the possessor and subject of the sentence. |
| Martin: Exactly. So you could also say Půjčíš mi svůj deštník? |
| Michael: which means “Will you lend me your umbrella?” |
| Martin: Also Svůj is conjugated the same way according to gender |
| Michael: Listeners, you’ll find a table with detailed information about possessives in the lesson notes! Finally, if we need to make our request in a very polite way, what could we say? |
| Martin: In this case, please use the conjugated imperfective verb moct followed by bych which means ‘’would or could.’’ |
| Michael: Can you give us a couple of examples? |
| Martin: Mohl bych si půjčit tvoje pero? |
| Michael: “Could I borrow your pen?” |
| Martin: Mohl by si půjčit tvoje pero? |
| Michael: “Could he borrow your pen?” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Martin: Děkuji. |
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